A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday against the prestigious University of California, Los Angeles, saying it cannot bar Jewish students from classes or access to campus.
The ruling is the first against a university in connection with the anti-Israel protests that have rocked American college campuses this year.
In June, three Jewish students filed a complaint with the UCLA Board of Trustees, alleging that the university had become a “hotbed of anti-Semitism” in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas and that the university had failed to ensure Jewish students’ safety and full access to campus facilities.
Protests erupted on campus in late April and early May, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators setting up an encampment and erecting barricades in the center of campus.
The lawsuit alleges that the protesters established a “Jew-free zone” through which anyone passing “must make a statement pledging allegiance to the activists’ views.” Those who adhered to the protesters’ views were issued wristbands to allow them through, effectively barring Jewish students who support Israel and denying them access to the heart of campus, the lawsuit says.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarci sided with the three students and reprimanded the school.
“Jewish students have been barred from parts of the UCLA campus because they refuse to renounce their faith. This is unthinkable and abhorrent to the religious freedom guaranteed by our constitution,” he wrote.
When protests erupted on campus, the three Jewish students refrained from passing through major campus courtyards and plazas, including Powell Library, because doing so would have taken them through encampments “at risk of violence,” according to the lawsuit.
Ultimately, these protests were put down by law enforcement.
“If some of UCLA’s normally available programs, activities or campus areas become unavailable to certain Jewish students, UCLA must cease offering those normally available programs, activities and campus areas to all students,” Scarsi wrote.
He added that it is up to UCLA’s discretion as to how to make those programs and access available again.
As a result, UCLA’s Board of Trustees will be prohibited from providing programs, activities or access to campus if it knows the defendants “will not provide full and equal access to Jewish students.”
The filing noted that excluding Jewish students includes excluding Jewish students based on their religious beliefs regarding the Jewish state of Israel.
UCLA took corrective measures after the encampment, the lawsuit states, including creating a new Office of Campus Safety and “transferring day-to-day responsibility for campus safety to the Emergency Operations Center.” But Scarci said the changes “do not minimize the risk that plaintiffs will ‘be wronged again.'”
NBC News has reached out to UCLA for comment on the ruling.
UCLA spokeswoman Mary Osako told The Associated Press that the ruling “unfairly limits our ability to respond to events on the ground and serve the needs of the Bruins community.”
“UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment,” Osako said.
